November 2, 2006

Lakers 110, Warriors 98

Can you believe that the Lakers are 2-0 despite not having Kobe and Phil? I was a little disappointed when I found out Kobe was watching the Warrior/Laker game from home. I learned a valuable lesson for any more Warrior games I go to; don't be early. I got there a little too early. I did manage to catch Jordan Farmar shooting jumpers all by himself, but other than that, it's just a lot of waiting. The Oakland crowd booed the Lakers initially and with all the optimism they've built up in the off-season, they cheered the Warriors arrival to the court like they were Oakland's last hope. In the same way that A's fans didn't catch on to the chants of "Yoooouuuuuk" when the Red Sox came to town, by joining in to what they thought were boos, the same thing happened every time Luke Walton contributed (which in this offense with this personnel, was quite a bit). The "Luuuuukes" and "Yoooouuuuks" ultimately win out. Lamar Odom looked fantastic with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Ronny Turiaf was amazing. It made me remember the excitement that surrounded him when he was drafted out of Gonzaga. After a tough rookie season in which he had heart surgery, recovered, and basically was the highest paid cheerleader ever, he established that he can be a disruption with his defense and play well within the triangle offense. Farmar looked like a rookie, a little tentative bringing the ball up the court, but as the game progressed, he looked to gain confidence with his defense against his fellow UCLA alum Baron Davis. The Warriors looked horrible and I expect they will make some changes in personnel right off the bat. Dunleavy stunk, Baron Davis kept shooting bad shots and Troy Murphy missed open lay-ins. There's a funny story I will share about the crowd and "Lost" but I have yet to watch last night's episode, so I will hold off until I catch up with the rest of the world...err the U.S.

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